Financial magazine Caixin late on Thursday quoted
unidentified sources saying the billionaire founder of Fosun
Group could not be reached. The news potentially affects a large
number of the group's listed entities.

The market was also weighed down by a new batch of initial
public offerings that begin subscriptions from Friday.

The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies
in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 0.4 percent, to 3,608.06, while
the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 percent, to
3,434.58 points.

For the week, the CSI300 was down 1.9 percent while the SSEC
was off 2.6 percent.

Investors, already cautious ahead of a possible U.S. rate
hike next week, were concerned about a further weakening in the
Chinese currency, which hit its lowest level against the dollar
in nearly four and a half years.

"A U.S. rate hike would have a major impact on money flows
out of emerging markets including Hong Kong and China," said
Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities.

"Also, if the yuan continues to depreciate, that's negative
to stocks as well, because it means investors are not confident
about China's economic restructuring."

The market mood was further soured by media reports that Guo
Guangchang, chairman and founder of Chinese conglomerate Fosun
could not be reached, raising fears that Guo had become the
latest victim in China's deepening anti-corruption probes.

Shares of a bunch of mainland-listed companies with ties to
Fosun, including Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group
and Shanghai Guanglian E-commerce Holdings were
suspended from trading on Friday, pending announcement
containing "inside information."
(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)